Friday, February 26, 2010

CONTEST TODAY!!! Win a copy of "Wild Ride" or a $10 book gift card! Deets below.*

“Demons and Minions and Clowns – Oh, My!”

Carnivals have scared me ever since I saw Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train,” and Ray Bradbury’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes” confirmed my conviction that fun fairs hide all manner of nasty things. Roller coasters terrify me, Tilt-a-Whirls make me nauseous and who wants some fake psychic to guess your weight, anyway? As to clowns – I don’t need Stephen King’s “It” to persuade me that clowns are just . . . wrong.

In Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer’s “Wild Ride,” clowns – one in particular – bedevil Mary Alice “Mab” Brannigan. Mab’s restoration of Dreamland is a labor of love, until she’s assaulted by the smiling robot clown she recently painted. After that, it hardly surprises her when a motherly fortune-telling machine gives her relationship advice and a helpful raven becomes her companion. Mab’s road to love is bumpier than most, as she struggles to accept that her mother’s admonitions about demons in the old amusement park were nothing but the plain truth.

Ethan John Wayne has come home to die at Dreamland, where his mother still lives, after a Taliban bullet lodged in his chest and stole his future. His mission changes when his mother starts spouting nonsense about demon Untouchables residing in the park and Guardia saving the world. Ethan can’t even save himself, but he’s the only one capable of dealing with the mass hysteria. Another shot to the chest makes Ethan realize the threat is no fantasy, but it’s going to take more than a mysterious shooter and a rattling roller coaster to make him a believer.

“Wild Ride” is as wacky and wonderful as a Frank Capra movie, if Capra had dropped acid and dreamed up a demon-infested Potterville crawling with evil minion teddy bears. The story is both warmly, weirdly familiar and totally original, infused with Crusie's and Mayer’s strong, uniquely recognizable voices yet unlike any of their other books. Mab has Crusie’s artistic vision, and Ethan has Mayer’s military ethos; their stories weave together in a tale that has everything: not one but two romances, mystery, magic, a voluptuary mermaid, an Etruscan devil and even a very un-Poe-ish raven.

Pull back the bar on your roller coaster seat and . . .

Buy the Book!

“Wild Ride” refuses to stay in the box called what-readers-expect. Crusie and Mayer successfully took the road less traveled, and with all the book’s unexpected twists and turns, I had a hard time imagining how the story would end. How do you feel when a story arrives at its happy ending by an unconventional path? Does it shake you up, or do sit back and enjoy the ride?

****Becke's offering today's 30th new RBTB NEWs subscriber a copy of "Wild Ride," PLUS a $10 book gift card up for grabs for folks already on board RBTB NEWs! Click here to enter, and to keep up-to-date on romance-fiction fun -- and the exciting upcoming phase of RBTB.***

Monday: Kaki Warner -- "Pieces of Sky" -- GuestBlogs with the very funny tale of how western romance has changed the way we "listen" to dialogue. ___

Oooh, killing off characters I've invested my heart and soul in? Not if you want me to read your books again. But plot twists that take me to the happily-ever-after moment in a way I didn't expect? Love those! Wild Ride sounds like fun.

Kara - in general, I think clowns are creepy. But my next door neighbors when I was growing up were professional clowns on the side -- he was a hospital chaplain and they performed at the hospital. Now that kind of clown is different, and they were really lovely people.

And my husband and I still crack up whenever we see Bozo the Clown. When we lived in Chicago, there was an event downtown where kids could meet Bozo and get their pictures taken with him. I was working Sundays back then, and my husband was always looking for things to do with the kids. He thought meeting Bozo would be a great idea, and the kids were thrilled about it.

Until they saw Bozo up close, that is. My daughter was fine, but when my son got on Bozo's lap and saw that clown face up close, he started screaming his head off. Bozo lifted him up and held him out to my husband. "Not today, Dad!" he cracked, as if it happened all the time. And it probably did.

Becke, this isn't my usual type of book, but your post and descriptions were great! I was giggling at your descriptions and side comments.

I'm boring...I guess I don't like a lot of twists and turns in my stories. It's great to read a story that has you involved, but I don't want to be on a .... roller coaster ride with the story. (Couldn't resist that one!)

Forgot to add---My cousin was a cowboy clown for the Shrine Circus named Crackerjack. The kids loved him with his huge cowboy boots and small cowboy hat. However, I agree with you. The clown in "It" creeps me out big time!

Oh I have been waiting for this book to come out. I love the collaboration of these two incredible authors. It amazes me how much they mesh together when they take on one of these projects.And hey girls and guys too, if you haven't read the re-release of The Cinderella Deal, you have to.Deb

BECKE! You are sooo lucky to get the ARC. I love when Jenny and Bob get together. I have no clue how they do it and she's explained it several times before to me, but I still don't get it. I tried to collaborate once, but I wrote too fast for the other author.

Deb - that's cool, I know everyone doesn't have the same taste in books.

I remember the Shrine Circus! I went there once as a kid. I think you're right, "It" really ramped up the creepiness factor of clowns. It's hard to think of clowns now without the image of those movie posters flashing into my mind.

Hi Debbie! I'm with you on The Cinderella Deal. That's always been one of my favorite Crusie books. Of course, I've read them all more than once and they're ALL great.

Keri - I was smiling as I read this book; it made me happy on so many levels. As you can tell by my blog, it's a very visual story and I kept flashing on movies as I read it.

In an odd way, it made me think of Capra's YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU -- a longtime favorite of mine -- and BRINGING UP BABY. I love those movies because of the unexpected twists and turns they take, too.

I also was reminded of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (book and British series), although it's hard to say exactly why. Probably because Hitchhiker also caught me by surprise in good ways.

Tonya - I was practically jumping up and down when I received the ARC of Wild Ride, I was so excited. I'm awed by the whole collaboration process. I don't know how authors can do it without killing each other!

I adored both both Crusie/Mayer books, especially Agnes and the Hitman, which still remains one of the funniest books I've ever read. I'll be interested it see what they do with this one. Glad to hear you say it has two romances and an HEA - I was a little put-off by some of the promo material first put out on the book.

And I HATE circuses! Having said that, I did spend one summer of my youth working at a circus connected to one of the Great Adventure Parks. Trust me! Circus people are wild.

I love the unexpected. Deaths of characters I love have to be done right--I can handle it in Whedon because there's some reason for the deaths usually--Jenny's death shows that Angel is making his killings personal, Anya dies trying to do what she thinks is right and facing an apocolypse instead of running away, etc (sorry for anyone who is spoiled).

However, I feel like if it's death just because the author wants to shock us, that's not cool.

Also, it's a good thing my office door was closed because I totally squeed when I saw you were writing about Wild Ride. I've been so excited for this book for so long.

Buongiorno, Bellas and friends old and new! And thanks, Becke,for this great intro to "Wild Ride." I've been looking forward to this read. I fell in love w/the first Crusie/Mayer collab; love the addition of that mantastic guy sensibility to the romance construct.

The unexpected twists/turns, as you call them, on the way to HEA always remind me simply of why I love reading: the presentation of endless possibility, or as some say, the destruction of all those other possibilities. Some stories, in the case of our discussion, romance fiction, become more inviting and richer when authors bring to them certain intense levels of talent, creativity or storytelling. When that happens, it's clear from the start and becomes an expectation with the author/s, and is a treat.

Yet I would be more than happy to read the romance construct day after day knowing each road to HEA simply will follow the expected boy (or whomever/whatever) meets girl (whom/what)/loses/gets back structure. It's part of why I read it. It comforts and entertains me, and I find it satisfying.

That's a good point, Bethany. I'm all about the author's right to exercise his or her creativity any way they see fit, but as a reader I'm invested in the characters and the story. Shock value can add to a story if it fits, but when it's done for nothing BUT shock value I'm not a happy camper.

Marilyn - my husband and kids went through a crazy period where they had to ride every roller coaster they could find. We practically lived at Kings Island in those days. I'm the official wimp of my family! They'd get me on these rides they swore weren't scary and I'd be scared out of my wits. My daughter works at Disney World so I'm always at those parks. You won't catch me on the scary rides - It's a Small World is more my speed. Even Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is a little spooky for me!

Hope - thanks so much for stopping by. Your comments mean a lot to me.

The whole book is pretty unconventional, but I found it very satisfying. As a struggling writer, it was interesting to see how the authors pulled it off. As an avid reader, I was on board even when I wasn't sure I would be. Now THAT is real talent. (Not that this will surprise anyone who reads Crusie and/or Mayer books.)

I've been trying to think of other books that left me smiling the way this one did. Offhand, I can think of three - Lani Diane Rich's The Fortune Quilt, and two by Sarah Addison Allen -- Garden Spells and The Sugar Queen. All three are completely different from Wild Ride, but all left me with that sense of reading something "new."

These are both new to me authors though I think I have a Jennifer Crusie book on my TBR mountain. The premise sounds like a hoot and I will be adding it to my buying list. As for ending it can catch me by surprise but it has to blend in with the continuity of the book (I hope that makes sense) not something so far off that you say where did that come from & how did we get there. Love & Hugs,Pam

Oh, Pamela, I envy you discovering Jenny Crusie's books. They are wonderful. I haven't read all of Bob's books - he's written a lot of them, under different pen names. I only know his Robert Doherty books, but I recommend those. Read about Bob here: http://www.bobmayer.org/

Being afraid of clowns is apparently a very common fear. I had a roommate in college who was afraid of clowns, but her favorite movie was "IT". Somehow that doesn't seem right, but maybe she was facing her fears. As for me mascots creep me out so I tend to avoid them!

Thanks for the awesome review and the contest. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!

Great post, Becke!I actually love when something happens unexpectedly. Most of the stories I read I can pretty much predict what will happen and, frankly, it does get old sometimes. In fact, I recently listened to Mayer and Crusie's 'Agnes and the Hitman' ntothat long ago and loved all the crazy fun, hehe. Can't wait for this one!

WILD RIDE sounds fantastic, I was thrilled when I met both the authors at the Spacecoast Writers Conference in Cocoa Beach--I did a workshop there, but they stole the show. They were fabulous, and very entertaining.

I'm a huge fan of Ms. Crusie and have been vastly entertained by her collaborations with Mr. Mayer. "Agnes & the Hitman" really is just a hilarious book! My fave solo book is "Fast Women". Such a hoot and Jes has such a way with dialogue. She and Julia Quinn are the best when it comes to dialogue, right now.

To be honest, I haven't read too many books that have all the twisty plots. Like Michelle, I like the tried and true typical romance. It'll be interesting how "Wild Ride" goes, but I'm sure I won't be disappointed.